11 Brilliant Innovators: Breakthrough Awards 2011

The 2011 Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Awards honor innovators whose work will transform the world in years to come.

By
Logan Ward and the Editors of Popular Mechanics

Oct 3, 2011

Art Streiber

The 2011 Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Awards honor innovators whose work will transform the world in years to come. They are reinventing the wheel—or, rather, the cell tower and the internal combustion engine; reaching new heights in wind power and space exploration; and figuring out clever new ways to clean up and observe the environment. They're even helping the paralyzed to regain use of their legs. They're determined and brilliant—and we can't wait to see what they'll do next.

Art Streiber

Exploration

LEADERSHIP AWARD

INNOVATOR:James Cameron

BRILLIANT IDEA:Using technology to open new worlds in Sci-Fi and real life

THE VISIONARY James Cameron with one of the 3D camera rigs he created to film Avatar. The director plans to take a version of the rig on a dive to Challenger Deep—36,000 feet below the surface of the ocean—in a piloted submersible he also helped to engineer.

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